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Hair Transplant Failure Rate?

Posted on April 18, 2011

One of the biggest concerns to someone planning a hair transplant is often whether the surgery will be successful, or whether it will fail. And by fail people usually mean that the hair that was transplanted did not grow in. Or it could also mean that the transplanted hair did grow in, but did not provide the look the client was looking for. While it may not be possible to guarantee that the client will have every single one of the transplanted hairs, most individuals will certainly see that a very large part of the hairs that were transplanted do grow in. Almost all clients will see new hair growing in the months after a hair transplant. However, in a few rare cases, the hair does not grow in as expected and this can be due to a number of different reasons.

Several different factors can affect the hair transplant failure rate, such as the way in which hair grafts were extracted, trimmed and inserted. The doctor must employ a very refined technique and use the smallest tools possible in order not to damage the hair follicles. How the grafts are prepared before they are inserted can also make a difference, as hair transplant doctors often discuss fat vs. skinny grafts and many doctors believe that fat or chubby grafts, where most of the fat is left intact, results in a lower failure rate. How long grafts were out of the body and whether they were in a special solution to prevent them from drying out can also make a difference. Dry grafts are less likely to take root in their new location.

Many hair transplant doctors pride themselves in having a very low failure rate, only a few percent, meaning that only a very small amount of the transplanted hairs may or may not grow, but the rest will take root as planned. But a few weeks after the hair transplant some or most of the transplanted hairs might shed, but this is not a reason to think that the hair transplant was a failure; this is simply normal and can be expected. The hair that fell out will grow back because the root of the hair remains and will grow new hair in the coming months. The new hair is then permanent and can be treated like any other hair.

With all the advancements that have been made in the hair transplant industry in recent years, including new research, studies, better strategies, and improved tools failures are simply rare. And if choosing one of the best hair transplant doctors in the field, the risk of a failure is even lower. A hair transplant is an efficient and proven method that can transplant hair as needed. Perhaps the most important part of avoiding a hair transplant failure is choosing the right doctor. And with some research, that shouldn’t be too hard.

5 thoughts on “Hair Transplant Failure Rate?”

The problems is that while people always complain when they aren’t satisfied with the results, they don’t really brag about the result if they were happy with them. Especialyl because the whole point is to NOT tell people that you needed a transplant in the first place. Any doctor you research will have bad reiews while any good reviews you find always look fake. The only smart decision is probably to go with the big clinics with lots of locations since they have more to lose if they don’t do their job right.

This is very unfortunate. Was the recent transplant done differently than the other two? There is so much new technology coming in the market and I don’t think any claims can be made regarding their success rates at this early stage.

The first two hair transplants were done in 2002 and 2003 both 1,200+ grafts fut. The third in 2011 for 2,600 fut. I was told that the instruments used were a lot finer and that is why I was able to get 2,600 grafts done in one session as 2,400 took two sessions a decade ago.